‘Where did we go wrong in our homes and schools?’ David Harris laments young Jews’ hostility to Israel

The head of the American Jewish Committee is pained by the fact that young Jews are expressing “apathy” or outright “hostility” toward Israel. He wonders what his generation did wrong in schools and homes not to convey “a sense of unbridled joy and pride and thrill” in Israel.

David Harris expressed these anxieties in a speech at Temple Shaaray Tefila, a Reform congregation in Bedford Corners, N.Y., last week (from which I’ve already published two riffs here and here). The speech concluded with Harris’s lament over the community’s inability to tell the Israel story with pride.

Finally, there’s a… good story to tell. It’s the story that I think we need to tell ourselves. It’s not debating those on campuses. It’s not debating those in the cyber-world. It’s telling ourselves and especially our children and our grandchildren something that too many of us have failed to tell. Every time I hear in a Jewish meeting concerns about our children and their lack of interest in Israel, their apathy about Israel, their hostility to Israel, those friends of theirs who are involved in anti-Israel activity on their campuses or in their schools– to me it’s extraordinarily painful, and I ask myself, Where did we go wrong? Where did we go wrong?

No, no, no, Israel is not a perfect country. I would never argue that it is. I would never try to present it as a perfect country. It’s a country made up of human beings who like human beings everywhere make mistakes. Israel has made its share of mistakes, and we need to acknowledge it. Israel is making its share of mistakes and we need to acknowledge that as well. But if we hold Israel to such a standard that it will never achieve it, no nation on earth will achieve it, then we’re being completely unfair to the proposition.

Israel has a fundamental right to live! Israel has a fundamental right to exist! Israel has a fundamental right to defend itself! [Pounding the podium] And Israel has a rightful place not just in the community of nations, but in the community of democratic nations. This country, our beloved country, certainly has its share of flaws and at least 50 percent of our nation believes that our country is completely misguided today, not to mention the Europeans think that our obsession with capital punishment, with weapons, I could go down a longer list, is completely off the wall. This country is not perfect. Would I defend this country? With pride and pleasure. Even as I understand that America is a work in progress and always will be a work in progress.

And the genius of democracy is that it allows us to believe that we with our own hands and our own voice can change what we don’t like. Whether we start on this side of the spectrum or this. Israel is part of that community that says we are a democracy ultimately responsive to the people. And as a consequence, We are a permanent work in progress.

But to wait?! As someone once said to me, I will visit Israel for the first time when they achieve peace. Nuts! First of all, they’re depriving themselves of the privilege of visiting Israel. Secondly, they’re handing to the Palestinians the decision when to visit Israel, if ever.

Why? Why can’t we convey to our own children successfully– why can’t Jewish day schools and synagogues in their after-school programs convey successfully a sense of unbridled joy and pride and thrill that in our lifetimes, the prayer, l’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim [next year in Jerusalem], has become this year? Let the prayer be a metaphysical prayer, but let the actual prayer be this year, today.

What is it? What is it that allows us to ignore this extraordinary journey, the journey that Churchill once said was a journey not to be measured in years or decades, but centuries and millennia, in the extraordinary excitement of the Jewish people returning to their land and rebuilding their state and defending their state.

What is it that brings shame among some? What are we doing wrong in our homes? What are we doing wrong in our schools?

Why can’t we on this 70th anniversary celebration that’s upcoming go back to basics and remind us all why above all it is an occasion for celebration?

In the Q-and-A, I went to the mike with a feeling of trepidation (the synagogue is beautiful and austere and was filled with a somber, wealthy crowd, and I’d worn a sweater with holes in it) and said that Harris had been very specific about Palestinian mistakes, but vague about Israel’s. If you’re trying to win the young Jews, “wouldn’t you be more persuasive if you were to itemize mistakes by Israeli leaders?”

Harris replied, “The answer is, Absolutely and it depends on the audience.” He related that in 1987, a Washington Post reporter whom he knew and trusted had asked if she could attend an AJC meeting about the first intifada and the Israeli response to it, and Harris invited her to come, and the next day on the front page of the Post there was a headline saying, Jewish leader assails Israeli policies. The reporter hadn’t cared about anything he said about Palestinians, that wasn’t news. So while Harris said he is critical of settlements and prayer issues in Israel, “I want to be very careful not to play into the hands of those who are Israel’s adversaries…. I don’t want unwittingly to become the stuff of headlines.” (That Washington Post story is 30 years old, and qualifies as a war story. I wonder when if ever Harris can express real criticism of Israel…)

A few other highlights. On BDS, or boycott, divestment and sanctions:

“I would like to declare perhaps counter-intuitively that the BDS movement has failed abysmally. That doesn’t mean we ignore it. That doesn’t mean we pretend that it is not poisoning the minds of young people on campuses. It is. But in terms of its actual goals, boycott, divestment, and sanctions– Failure failure failure.”

There has never been a longer line of nations seeking to engage Israel, Harris said. BDS, he said, could be “shortened… to just BS.”

Harris was defensive about the charge that Israel doesn’t want peace. That’s “chutzpah” on the part of non Jews.

I don’t know of another nation that wants peace as much as the nation of Israel. Precisely because, One, it has not known a true day of peace, and two because the Jewish people are a peaceseeking people…[He cited the famous passage from Isaiah about beating swords into ploughshares.] We don’t need lessons in the desirability of peace. There’s a certain chutzpah in trying to teach us about the importance of peace, and we get those kinds of lectures when AJC travels the world, especially in Europe.

Harris reflected on the 1000 days between May 1945 and May 1948, as the lowest and highest points in Jewish history. The first date was the end of the war in Europe:

“We the Jewish people had learned of the Destruction of two-thirds of the 9 million Jews in Europe. 1.5 million Jewish children were exterminated in a new alphabet of genocide created for us, the Jews. an alphabet that began with the letter A for Auschwitz and ended with the letter Z for Zyklon B. Imagine– all for us.”

And 1000 days later, Israel is born:

We’re talking here about the stuff of miracles. But we’re talking about the stuff of faith fortitude and strength of a group of people that decided this was it. Either the Shoah would define the end of Jewish history. Or the new Jewish history would be written with us in a sovereign land and no longer as minorities living at the mercy of majority societies and their good will, which too often was lacking in the good part. This was the story of the rebirth of the state of Israel.

That is an important statement because it reflects the historical frame of so many Zionists, and why they insist on the need for a Jewish majority in Israel. David Harris is 68 (and makes about $500,000 a year).

The Jewish-centrism of his statements, leaving out other victims of the Holocaust for instance, recalls Norman Mailer’s comment, that Hitler’s bitterest achievement was reducing Jewish life to the question, “Is it good for the Jews?” The speech was of course also Israel-centric. Many Jews would define their Jewishness on a broader basis. For Harris, Zionism is everything.

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48 Responses

Israel just doesn’t have anything to inspire a young jew to love or stand up for. The fear of being ostracized is/has gone away. This is turning into the best of both worlds for Americans. Maybe we can free ourselves from the slavish foreign policy that has made us the hypocritical laughingstock of the world and gain some respect for being more humanitarian as a people. Just calling it as i sees it gents.

I wouldn’t expect you or anyone else to argue that Israel is or should be a “perfect” country. But what it shouldn’t be is a deliberately and unapologetically oppressive, colonialist, (war) criminal and religion-supremacist state.

… But if we hold Israel to such a standard that it will never achieve it, no nation on earth will achieve it, then we’re being completely unfair to the proposition. …

Israel isn’t being held to “such a standard that it will never achieve it, no nation on earth will achieve it”. That’s something only apologists argue.

… Israel has a fundamental right to live! Israel has a fundamental right to exist! …

Israel had no right to come into existence. But it exists and, IMO, it should continue to exist but not as a religion-supremacist “Jewish State”. No state has a right to exist as a supremacist state of any kind.

… And Israel has a rightful place not just in the community of nations, but in the community of democratic nations. …

Israel has earned itself a rightful place in the community of oppressive, colonialist, (war) criminal and (religion-)supremacist nations.

What is it? What is it that allows us to ignore this extraordinary journey, the journey that Churchill once said was a journey not to be measured in years or decades, but centuries and millennia, in the extraordinary excitement of the Jewish people returning to their land and rebuilding their state and defending their state.

the truth, the ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and colonization — that’s what it is. it’s natural for young people to want to disassociate from war crimes and massive human rights violations.

also, harris should know that most young people with even a minor understanding of the principles of democracy understand it to be representative of all the people, not just people of one ethnicity. so when he says Israel is part of that community that says we are a democracy ultimately responsive to the people, what he means is “the jewish people”. because for half the people under which the israeli regime rules, the regime is not only not responsive to, but it is downright abusive towards.

it boggles my mind he doesn’t get this. this ‘why?’ and ‘what is it?’ approach — he could easily find out these answers if he just speaks to young people. it’s kind of a no-brainer.

Annie: Israel as a proper democracy should be non-discriminatory and inclusive not only for the people who now live in IoT but for all people who should live there, including with present inhabitants also the refugees/exiles of 1948 and progeny. (That would bring the total of Palestinians living in IoT well over 1/2.)

If Israel argues that all Jews have a right to return to Israeli-controlled territory (IoT) because their lives may be in danger elsewhere and they need a country, the same goes for the Palestinian refugees/exiles. And after all, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — not a law but a noble aspiration — says everyone has a right to return to his own country.

Perhaps the young American Jews Harris complains of have some such idea tickling their minds or consciences whenever the idea of loving Israel comes up.

“Do those include young American Arabs? Because they don’t seem focused on launching BDS movements against their native authoritarian countries”

Maybe because all these countries have given it’s native populations right to vote?
Because all those authoritarian countries have not been hell bent in ethnic cleansing their natives?
(here feel free to complain that Israel is judged by different standard than Burma).
55/63

they don’t seem focused on launching BDS movements against their native authoritarian countries.

bds wasn’t launched in the diaspora, by students or otherwise. it was launched in palestine and supported by civil society. supporting that movement spread to the diaspora and beyond. launching a movement is a big deal and there are most definitely young arab americans engaged in other liberation movements whether it be in relation to the rohingya, bahrain, saudi arabia, syria, yemen, libyans, somalians etc they all have facebook pages and such. visit any MENA studies department.

albeit, most of these movements have not been around as long as bds nor are as organized. after 70 years of occupation, palestine got a head start.

Might I suggest mr Harris , that instead of building “Jews only ” racist illegal squats in Occupied Palestine , you had built homes that would be inhabited by all , matters might be somewhat different.

Instead of interminably , whining about being victims , you had adopted the role of a generous victor and treated your victims with a modicum of humanity , you might well have had the Younger US Jews on your side.

Your problem Mr Harris , is that you failed to see that your actions would isolate not only Young US Jews but most of the rest of the world.Young US Jews understand this and don,t care to bear the brunt of the sometime hostile actions directed at them , so a bunch of geriatric Zionists can get their jollies off , bragging about their superiority.

Perhaps , Mr Harris , if you had paid more attention to the Laws of man , instead of the rantings of the Framers of the Bible , you would not have had to double down –again , on MW.

‘Where did we go wrong in our homes and schools?’ David Harris laments young Jews’ hostility to Israel

It all went horribly wrong for the zios in Palestine after the foreign zio-squatters managed to infiltrate Palestine, where they began committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the name of all Jews.

It matters not what religion a person follows. Under International Law people of any religious persuasion can be found guilty of war crimes and under the Geneva Convention. Israel as a Sovereign State has a sworn obligation to abide by and comply with its obligations under International Law……it never has and therefore fails the test of Sovereignty.

Let us begin in the year 1967, after a month of saber rattling (plus diplomacy) a war breaks out and israel conquers vast territories. the month of saber rattling was rattling for a large fraction of american jews who felt kinship to the israeli jews and the victory felt like some sort of vindication. the proximity of 1967 to the end of wwII should be noted. only the blind deaf and senseless consider this a short period of time vis a vis the depths of the destruction of the war, the two events are not at the same time which is more or less true of 48, but is barely a generation apart. (a mere hiccup when dealing with the devastation).2017 is two generations further still, maybe 2 and a half depending how you count. there is no way that the same perspective, the recentness of wwII could persist.

in 1967 it was possible to believe that some sort of peace could be reached between israel and the arabs. in 2017 the dynamics are far different in terms of openness to possibility and the hard and fast immovable occupation that just marked its 50th anniversary. whereas harris and jews his age have marked various ups and downs in the process, young jews have marked mostly downs, and have no longer perspective on the conflict. i think that even with longer perspective on the conflict, there are to be expected varying reactions from jews who care about jewish history, but david harris has chosen to be the defender of israel, he has taken this role, not a searcher for truth or an upholder of a specific vision for example: uri avnery, but basically a defender of israel. (yes, israel deserves to have a defense attorney. this role exists and for those for whom it fits and their beliefs match up, i defend their choices in being defense attorneys. harris ends up being at the mercy of whomever is the elected prime minister of israel, even if it is bibi netanyahu.)

harris has chosen to be a defender of israel, that’s his role in life. he should not expect the kids to emulate him.

and let us not forget that assimilation has continued apace and jewish cohesiveness is not what it was 50 years ago, so that seems to be a key factor here as well. (measure attitudes towards israel amongst those that intermarry compared to those who marry jews, and there is a vast gulf, so harris should look to that.)

‘Let us begin in the year 1967, after a month of saber rattling (plus diplomacy) a war breaks out and israel conquers vast territories. ” Your use of the passive tense here speaks volumes, as it does when you asset “Harris ends up being at the mercy of….”
War didn’t “break out” Mr. Fredman, Israel launched a pre-emptive attack for the express purpose of acquiring land, and was not in any existential danger from Egypt, or other neighbors. This is well documented and revealed in Israeli military archives. So posing in both cases as a powerless victim, whether Israel in ’67 or as with Harris, only serves to obfuscate the criminality of Israel’s recurring war crimes and depravity, which will not get back one young dissenter, because it’s B.S. If you demand the documentary evidence from the mouths of Begin, Rabin, Peled, etc., I’ll be happy to deliver, but the point is let’s get real about how this particular colonial settler state methodically crushes indigenous people, by design.

larick- I knew that using the phrase “war broke out” would elicit a negative response. But I was trying to discuss a different issue: that of the development of a particular mindset which is prevalent in david harris’s generation (although particularly absent in phil’s case, as in his insistence that any mention of the holocaust even to a jewish audience, must include universalization in order to avoid phil’s censorious remarks) cannot be expected to be present in the current generation of young.

as far as the 6 day war, once king hussein handed over the reins of jordan’s army to nasser and iraq announced that it was going to send forces through jordan to attack israel, war became inevitable. the idea that nasser could rattle his sabers to his heart’s content and not expect consequences is and was ridiculous. but there was a basic problem and that was that the direction of israel under ben gurion was towards war rather than towards peace (or sharett’s direction) and when b.g. reluctantly handed over reins to eshkol the army was still in the b.g. mindset and eshkol did not have the security credentials to take control over the army so it is not as if it is all nasser’s fault, due to all that occurred up until may of 67, but from may of 67 onwards, either nassser was delusional or suicidal. in the long range it might be the undoing of israel, but in the short range nasser’s behavior was off the wall.

Mr. Harris, the mere fact that you ask this question means 1 thing and 1 thing only (assuming your question is sincere):

You have had your head in a cloud, living in an ivory tower, because it is now painfully obvious that Israel’s lies, justified & prettily dressed up by the incessant stream of Hasbara, has become repulsive to young Jews, who, unlike their (grand)parents, have a more realistic view of that Apartheid state that subjugates a people & works at their slow extermination.

You should be ashamed of yourself for even needing to ask the question, considering your position in the American Jewish community.

Mr. Harris needs to realize that Zionism has been moving inexorably to its self-destruction for over 100 years. As long as Zionism was able to control the message it seemed to be winning – but the truth cannot/will not be suppressed forever. The truth is breaking free as more of the world hears about and understands Zionist atrocities (starting pre-1917 and continuing to today). Mr. Harris should be concerned about what happens to Zionism’s grand agenda when the tipping point is reached and its century of lies is fully exposed.

To be brief: With the rapid emergence of modern instant communications, including television and the Internet over the decades since 1947, the hideous truth about racist, fascistic Zionism and its spawn, the militaristic, expansionist, illegal/brutal occupier entity known as “Israel,” has become increasingly visible for peoples around the world, including American Jews, especially youth, who as a result, are abandoning the fraudulent “light unto nations.” The handwriting is on the wall. Zionism is on a downward slide and will never recover.

“November 28, 2017: Dr. Ashrawi on the ramifications of Partition and the moral imperative for the international community to stand on the right side of justice.”

EXCERPTS:
“On the occasion of the seventy-year anniversary of Partition and the fortieth anniversary of marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi said:

“’On November 29 seventy years ago, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 181 (II). With the partition of historic Palestine, the victimization and suffering of the Palestinian people began. The state of Israel was created at the expense of the indigenous people of the land who were violently uprooted. For decades, the ramifications of this resolution have only intensified, manifesting themselves in three ways:’

“‘1. Dispossession, dispersion and exile of a massive refugee population

2. Systematic discrimination and oppression within Israel due to its racist and exclusionary system

3. Captivity and enslavement under occupation within the remaining 22% of historic Palestine.'”

“‘On this significant date in the history of Palestine, we call on the international community to translate solidarity into positive engagement, to put an end to this historical injustice, to bring Israel to full withdrawal, to affect a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue on the basis of United Nations Resolution 194, and to establish the independent state of Palestine on the 1967 boundaries with East Jerusalem as its capital.’

“‘Now is the time to engage in the actual rectification of the historical victimization of Palestine and its people.’”

“Why the hell would you expect him to talk about the other victims of the Shoah in this context? Why on Earth is that relevant?”

Your incomprehension is the mirror image and exact opposite of my incomprehension when people accuse me of Anti-semitism for discussing Israel-centric trespasses (holding Israel to a different standard) without first fixing the entire Universe.

“The main priority, however, should be day school education. If we got our act together and offered every American Jewish child an affordable, high-quality, Jewish day school education, there would be no great need for Birthright. This is a uniquely American problem. In most other countries, Jewish schools, like other parochial schools, are government subsidized and/or paid for through a communal tax, and thus, far less expensive than they are in the United States.

First of all, I don’t think that’s really what he said. He said: “1.5 million Jewish children were exterminated in a new alphabet of genocide created for us, the Jews. an alphabet that began with the letter A for Auschwitz and ended with the letter Z for Zyklon B.” I don’t think that’s the same as saying that all of the victims of Auschwitz were Jews or that Zyklon B was used on Jews only.

I think it’s fair to say that Hitler’s primary target was the Jewish people and that the Jews were the primary victims of the Holocaust. That doesn’t mean that there weren’t other victims were a host of reasons, but Jews were the primary intended target. That’s why 91% of the Jews of Poland were killed. I think that you should be able to accept that without insisting that every time a Jewish leader talks about Holocaust, that he proactively discuss other victims. David Harris, whom I know well, is certainly not a person who ignores the fact that there were other victims of the Holocaust.

It’s really baffling to me that you’d parse this statement in the way that you have.

First off zyklon b wasn’t invented for any people no matter how you want to mangle history.

And no hitler didn’t have a singular target. You are full of it. He had a primary goal, that being a pure aryan race, but Jews were only one of the targets in pursuit of that goal. Your lack of empathy for other victims is loud and clear. Forgive me the next time you cry victimhood and ignore others.

Also, your ongoing Judeocentric interpretation of World War II as little more than the Holocaust is myth-history. The Holocaust was part of World War II. Most of the Jews who died in the Holocaust lived in Poland, not Germany. Without World War II, there would have been no Holocaust. You continue to misrepresent the Holocaust as some sort of culmination of 2000 years of irrational and eternal anti-Semitism.

Coincidentally, a local Israel enthusiast group has scheduled, on very short notice, a 7:00PM lecture for teens, tomorrow, at the Jewish Community Center, entitled: “Israel 101”, to outline the 3000 year history of Jewish Israel. This to be presented by a person from “Stand With Us” – for about an hour and a half.

With Jewish teens in high school with Gentile teens, I presume that relationships have developed that are based upon looks and personality without regard to ethnicity, all with little regard even for US history. In human affairs, relationships prevail.

“Don’t know much about History. Don’t know much about Biology…..” Artist: Sam Cooke
Album: The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke
Released: 1960
Genres: Classic soul, Pop

I presume that relationships have developed that are based upon looks and personality without regard to ethnicity

as well as physical attraction and personality, i think it’s safe to assume that frequently kids in high school (as well as other members of our society), develop relations based on shared interests too.

Eljay,
It is very simple. It is disgust for an individual who says he isJewish, especially when spewing hate against the Jewish State of Israel and engages in the Protocols of Elders of Zion style of Anti-Semitism. But eljay, we all know you are the resident expert on Anti-Semitism here at Mondoweiss. Don’t forget to put that title on your resumé.

Cunning, Mooser; I’ve got to hand it to you. You make your sock puppet say something even sillier than usual, and then you pretend to rebuke him. We’re not fooled. No real person who was trying to defend Israel would sound as ridiculous as “Grover.”

. “We’re not fooled. No real person who was trying to defend Israel would sound as ridiculous as “Grover.”

That’s why I had to invent him. If we let Zionists speak for themselves, the entire site would be invalidated, and a tsunami of support for Zionism would be the result. So I had to make up “Steve Grover”.
Of course, no actual person is like him. I mean c’mon! He’s supposed to appear as an obnoxious freak. Call him a sock-puppet if you will, “Mr. North”, call it slander, call it libel,(just don’t call me late for supper) and ban me for it, but I say it’s parody and covered under the 1st Amendment! And everybody reading it knows that, nobody thinks “Steve Grover” is real.

Mr. Harris’ plea for understanding comes with the baggage of behavior that can’t be wished away in a narrative of history that denies, ignores, avoids, and blames. Young people asking questions are a blessing. What have you done wrong? You’ve lied and deceived, and unbiased minds can recognize that immediately. http://thepomoblog.com/index.php/muslims-deal-terrors-fall/

Yes, it’s even happening in Germany. They are waking up to the fact two wrongs don’t make a right–who knows, one day they may put their foot down and Israel will no longer get those wonderful German submarines at deep discount.

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